The idea of the industrialized house, i.e., a house which is pre-cut or pre-assembled into kits, panels or modules delivered to the construction site, was first introduced over a century ago. However, industrialized house production in the United States counted for only 12% of annual house production in the United States on a national basis in 1986. One reason for the slow progress of this technology is that the advantages of pre-assembled kits or modules do not always offset the cost of factory assets, operations, and transportion of the kits or modules to the construction site.
A more reasonable approach is to bring to the job site materials or components which are engineered with a higher degree of sophistication to reduce the time and cost of assembly. This approach is in accord with the evolution of the building industry which started with primitive logs and stones before moving to standard sized lumber and building blocks. Next, products such as plywood and Sheetrock appeared followed by pre-assembled components such as pre-hung doors, windows, staircases, cabinets, fireplaces, roof trusses, etc. These products are part of an ongoing trend in the construction industry to reduce labor costs and minimize construction delays while maintaining design flexibility.
In constructing a new house, a significant portion of the costs are associated with the framing of the house and also the internal and external finishing of the various surfaces. In particular, a moderately complex roof design implemented with the conventional rafter or truss technology involves the complex assembly of a large number of components, many of which must be cut and trimmed on the job site. The application of an external covering to the roof, typically with asphalt shingles, is very labor intensive. In addition, conventional rafter or truss roof designs do not always provide satisfactory thermal performance, (i.e., ventilation, thermal bridging, etc.), or optimum utilization of the building volume.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a roof assembly comprising a plurality of components which can be engineered and manufactured according to the design and specification of the structure, and which could be erected in a matter of hours after arrival at the job site.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a roof assembly which may be manufactured and assembled with costs and in less time than conventional rafter or truss roof designs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a roof assembly which will have good thermal performance, and which utilizes the building volume efficiently.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a roof assembly in which the individual components can be custom manufactured to the specification for the roof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a roof panel having a standard design with modifiable parameter which may be custom manufactured to the design specifications of the roof.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a support beam having a standard design with modifiable parameters which can be custom manufactured to the design specifications of the roof.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of assembling a roof from a plurality of components which are customer manufactured to the design specification of the roof.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing the roof panels of a roof assembly in accordance with the design specification of the roof.